…Onwards and Upwards (again).
So I finally got round to seeing a physio to help me sort out my left Achilles and my right calf, and I have to say her advice and treatment seemed like nothing less than a miracle to me. She gave me some exercises to improve my poor stability, which was the root cause of my Achilles problem. She also had a really good dig around in my calf which had a small tear, and resulting scar tissue which kept getting aggravated a mile or so into any run I did. She showed me how to massage this myself every day, and once the bruising had gone down from her efforts, I made sure I did just what the physio ordered every day.
Within a couple of days, I had run 2 miles on the treadmill, incident-free. I progressed to running the perimeter fence at work (a nice soft surface, just as the physio ordered), until I got back up to 6 miles, when I felt ready to try the pavement by running the Lee parkrun. This went so well, that I posted about it on facebook, positivity had returned, it really was onwards and upwards now. I had definitely set myself up for a fall by posting my happiness on Facebook, and it came just 2 days later when I fell off my bike on my way home from work. It had recently rained, and I slid out on a corner on the wet road. Some beautiful bruises and a wrenched shoulder resulted, which meant no running again for a week.
So, on holiday last week, I wasn’t going to pass up the chance of running at least once in the beautiful Devonshire countryside, especially as I have been there and run there so many times before. I know and love all the footpaths along the cliffs, up valleys and through dark and spooky woods. I only did 3.2 miles, but the familiarity of the landmarks, the steep steep hills, the bleeting of the sheep, and the friendliness of the other people out and about just reminded me what it is all about: getting out there, appreciating the landscape and, as a bonus, getting some exercise too. I’m so glad I keep persevering, as I can’t imagine not being able to run in such a lovely place.
It turns out there is a race there (the Bigbury Fun Run), which took place on the day we came home! Maybe I’ll organise myself better next year, and be fit enough to do it! (Crusaders on tour anyone?)
I’ve been out again since to see how things are going… and yes, all good, 5.5 road miles done, at a decent(ish) pace, so really now, onwards and upwards (again), and no more setbacks… please.
Don’t give up, believe in your abilities, and you will achieve.